(a) Technical Field
Negative active materials for rechargeable lithium batteries, methods of preparing the same, and rechargeable lithium batteries are disclosed.
(b) Description of the Related Art
Lithium rechargeable batteries have recently drawn attention as power sources for small portable electronic devices. Lithium rechargeable batteries use organic electrolyte solutions, and thereby have twice the discharge voltage of conventional batteries using alkaline aqueous solutions. As a result, lithium rechargeable batteries have high energy density.
As the positive active material of a rechargeable lithium battery, lithium-transition element composite oxides capable of intercalating lithium, such as LiCoO2, LiMn2O4, LiNi1-xCoxO2 (0<x<1), and so on, have been researched.
As the negative active material of a rechargeable lithium battery, various carbon-based materials have been used, such as artificial graphite, natural graphite, and hard carbon, which may intercalate and deintercalate lithium ions. However, recently, research has been conducted into non-carbon-based negative active materials, such as Si, depending on the desired stability and high-capacity of the battery.